Editorial: A flop with a strong message

It is scant consolation that the firing of a North Korean long-range missile, designed to carry a nuclear warhead to Japan and perhaps even the United States and Australia, appears to have ended in failure. Far more significant in Pyongyang's breaching of a moratorium in place since 1999 was the message of defiance and provocation. The launch, allied to the testing of intermediate-range missiles, was a calculated spurning of appeals from the international community, including even North Korea's most important backer, China. Its timing, throwing a spanner into America's Independence Day celebrations, added to the insult. This was North Korea re-asserting itself as one of the world's more dangerous flashpoints.

Neutralising that threat by persuading Pyongyang to abandon its missile and nuclear-weapon ambitions must now be a top priority. Japan talks of applying "various pressures", and its initial response has been to request a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, at which the imposition of economic sanctions will be discussed. These, so the theory goes, would coax the North Koreans back to the six-party talks on its nuclear programme that collapsed last November.

The problem is that previous attempts to isolate North Korea in this manner have failed. China and South Korea are loath to enforce strict sanctions for fear of being inundated by refugees. The Chinese ensure that the communist regime has a minimum supply of food and fuel. If North Korea suffers, it is only to a degree already dictated by its moribund economy.

But history confirms that North Korea is a master at drumming up a crisis whenever it thinks it can win more aid or concessions. It could be that, with Washington's embroilment in Iraq and the international concentration on Iran's nuclear ambitions, it sees such an opportunity here. A price will be demanded even for returning to the six-party talks with the US, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

Pyongyang has already suggested that it first wants bilateral talks with the US. This is not a course favoured by the White House, which wants a resumption of the six-nation negotiations. But it is one that the Bush Administration should consider seriously, because of the danger to the stability of the Korean peninsula and the potential for North Korea to supply weaponry to other rogue states or terrorist groups.

Such bilateral talks proved the circuit-breaker for a deal orchestrated last September under which North Korea pledged to stop developing nuclear weapons and rejoin international arms treaties. The Americans, cajoled by China, brought a new flexibility to these discussions. But then Washington undid the progress by cracking down on companies suspected of helping Pyongyang carry out illicit financial activities.

The US may be reluctant to bow to North Korea's demand for direct talks. It does not want to send the wrong message to Tehran, in particular. But the overriding concern must be to break the stalemate and bring the Koreans back to the negotiating table. A visit to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could be the cue for achieving that.

If North Korea wanted the world's attention, it has certainly achieved that. Now, the world, led by the US and China, must fashion a response that persuades it to give up its nuclear programme in exchange for aid. It is not an especially palatable task, given the many false dawns associated with North Korea. But the increased threat to global nuclear stability makes it one that must be done.